


Night Swimming

by oyogihodai (alder_knight)



Category: Free!
Genre: For the Future Festival (Free!), Homesickness, M/M, Nostalgia, Ocean, Pre-Relationship, Teen Angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-08-11
Updated: 2015-08-11
Packaged: 2018-04-14 06:17:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,059
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4553964
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/alder_knight/pseuds/oyogihodai
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Rin rotated in the water to face the north. The cove curled around there, so it wasn't open sea, but north was Japan. Far away, this ocean crashed on another beach. Who knew who might be standing on that beach right now?</p>
            </blockquote>





	Night Swimming

**Author's Note:**

> For the Future Festival: Day 2 - Distance
> 
>  **Rin, Free! Eternal Summer, episode 12:** "But when I came here and saw the ocean, I felt calmer. Because I knew that just beyond it, Haru and Sousuke were there. My friends were there. I felt like it connected me to you guys."
> 
> A snapshot of one of Rin's visits to the ocean during his study abroad years, looking for that connection with someone he left back home.

Foam chased up his ankle, and Rin shivered.

The evening air was unseasonably warm, but the sun had finished setting while Rin walked slowly along the edge of the waves, sand pressing cool and damp against his soles. Sitting on the dunes had only made him restless. Staring off into the waves hadn't abated his melancholy either. The afternoon was advanced already when he had arrived, so he'd decided to call home from the pay phone by the bus stop and say he would be late.

Lori had picked up the phone. "I can walk home," he had told her. It wasn't the first time he'd made a detour to the beach after practice. "Don't worry."

Now he stood facing the sea, hands in his coat pockets, as the advancing swirls around his feet pushed and sucked at the sand, making hollows underneath. He gazed down, unfocused, overwhelmed and blank. Something was tugging at him, something he couldn't place, a vague sense of aching nostalgia. He had been avoiding it all afternoon.

Rin took a deep breath of the briny spray and brought his eyes up to the darkening waves that stretched out into the settling dusk. The ache in his chest grew stronger. He sighed, and decided to dig into it. It didn't take long to realize what was wrong.

It was the end of Term 2. June was almost over. It would be Haruka's birthday this weekend.

Rin hadn't called or sent a single letter since he'd left Haru behind to pursue this pointless dream, three years ago. He'd written, of course, but somehow could never bring himself to send the embarrassing thoughts he had put down. Aside from the single winter afternoon when Rin had humiliated himself in front of Haru back in Iwatobi, the two of them had not spoken at all in three years. The fact remained, however, that Haruka's birthday was coming up, and Rin hadn't forgotten.

 _Of course I remember that,_ he thought to himself, frustrated. _Of course I can't remember half the vocab for the biology exam tomorrow, but Haru's birthday is taking up space in my memory. Of course._

Rin had been gone by June. He'd left for Australia before the ink was dry on his Iwatobi graduation certificate. He hadn't see Haruka for his birthday. They had said goodbye before that.

Rin kicked his feet, splashing water forward, curling his toes to keep the blood flowing in them. They tingled a little from the cold. Winters in Sydney were mild compared to back home, but standing still had dropped his core temperature and he was beginning to feel chilly. He turned and began walking again through ankle-deep water that rose and fell around his gentle tread. He was tired. He didn't have it in him to feel angry. He had been fighting his emotions too much for that, lately. At this point, he only felt defeated.

He thought back to his last meeting with his Iwatobi teammates, out in front of the SC. Makoto and Nagisa had cried and hugged him, given him candy and books for his trip. Haruka had stood apart, looking at Rin with an intensity that made him shiver, even now. They'd all parted ways that afternoon knowing that Rin had to leave in the morning. But after dinner, Rin had asked his mother and grandmother permission for one final outing, and they'd permitted it.

Haru hadn't seemed surprised enough to find Rin on his doorstep that evening, not as surprised as Rin had wanted him to be. Once Rin explained, Haru had vanished for only about a minute before reappearing at the door, ready to go.

The two of them had gone for a run down to the ocean. Chilly as the March twilight was, Haru had shed his windsuit and trainers and, Rin half a step behind him, dashed into the ocean and dived under.

"I'll race you," was what Rin had said. It'd worked.

 _Night swimming,_ Rin thought now, the smell of the salt and the lapping of the rising tide on his ankles pulling him inexorably back to his last good memory with Haru, splashing and laughing in the dark water, playing freely, before Rin had gone away and ruined everything.

Rin stopped his paces and turned again, into the ocean, a breeze picking up and blowing his eyes teary. The beach was deserted here, surfers all departed for the day, the only boats far enough out that only their lights were visible.

"Damn it, Haru," Rin muttered aloud. The breeze faded but his eyes still watered. He wiped at his face with his sleeve. Then he backed out of the water and started unbuttoning his overcoat.

Dropping his clothes unceremoniously in a pile on the dry sand of the dunes, Rin stripped down to his athletic shorts and pushed back his hair. By now the water would be warmer than the air around him. Before he could change his mind, he steeled his nerves and bolted down the sand, charging into the growing waves.

He gasped as he waded in. Once the water was hip-high, he went into a shallow dive, letting his legs propel him out to a reasonable depth. The moon shimmered on the surface beside him. He drifted around, adjusting to the cool water, allowing himself to flow and not think about form or technique. Finally he floated on his back and just breathed, letting the roll of the sea raise and lower him gently. He inhaled deeply and held it, concentrating on the knot in his chest, and then exhaled slowly, gradually dropping back into the water, treading gently. He rotated to face the north. The cove curled around there, so it wasn't open sea, but north was Japan. Far away, this ocean crashed on another beach. Who knew who might be standing on that beach right now, wading out into the water in a pair of worn-in jammers, feeling these same waves across his chest and none of the bitterness, strong and independent and untouchable and free?

The sea buoyed Rin. Waves crashed behind him. Aside from them, the night was very quiet. No cars passed on the roadway. He was alone under the stars.

"Haru," called Rin, gazing into the dark, voice swallowed by the waves. "I haven't forgotten you. Don't forget about me."

**Author's Note:**

> So what happened was I heard the REM song "Nightswimming" on the radio at work and thought, "oh man that would make such a cute fic!" and then I came home and wrote THIS. 
> 
> This is why I can't have nice things. :|
> 
> Many thanks to @extraordinary and @redcirce for helping me so much with editing for this festival!


End file.
